MAKESHOP Guest: Leah Beuchley

A little introduction: Leah Buechley was a major contributor to the development of the Lilypad Arduino, and is a professor at the MIT Media Lab . Her research group…

“…integrates high and low technological materials, processes, and cultures. Our primary aim is to engage diverse audiences in designing and building their own technologies by situating computation in new cultural and material contexts, and by developing tools that democratize engineering.”

She’s a huge deal and we were all very excited to meet her! She came to visit and led a workshop on integrating electronics into papercraft! We used copper tape and surface mount LEDs to make simple circuits directly on paper and to make more complex stuff like this razor cut paper lamp!

We had a lot of fun, but more importantly we got a little more wind in our sails. It’s great to see people who work in making technology accessible, and to meet with such brilliant humble minds as Leah. Maybe we can integrate some of that into our upcoming September theme: Books and Bags! Notebook with an integrated reading light, anyone?